Game-counter.



WILLIAM P. FLANAGAN, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

GAME-COUNTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented a... 7,1911.

Application filed October 17, 1910. Serial No. 587,393.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM P. FLANA- can, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and residing at Brooklyn. in the county of Kings and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game-(ountel-s. of which the following is a specification, such as willenable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to game counting devices and particularly todevices of this class used in counting a game of pinochle, and theobject. thereof is to provide an improved device of this class by whicha game of pinochle or the points made therein may be convenientlycounted, and a complete score kept by the player of the points madeduring any game.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown my improved game counterapplied to and used in connection with an ash tray which may also beused as a card holder, and the invention is fully disclosed in thefollowing specification of which the accompanying drawing" forms a part,in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitablereference characters in each of the views, and in which Figures 1 and 2are plan views illustrating the construction of my improved game counterand the method of its operation. and :-F ig. 3 a sectional side viewthereof and on a reduced scale.

My improved game counter comprises a plate. card or board a which in theaccompanying drawing is shown mounted on an ash tray 71, said plate,card or board being supported by corner posts 6 connected with saidtray. The plate a is divided into a top portion a? and bottom portion (iand each of these portions is provided with horizontally and verticallyarranged lines of perforations (Z, the vertically arranged rows ofperforations being the same in both portions of the plate, while thehorizontally arranged rows of perforations in the upper portion of theplate are five in number, and in the bottom portion of the plate ten innumber.

The vertically arranged rows of perforations in both portions of theplate are numbered from 1 to 100, the numerals used in doing this being10, 20, 30, 40 etc. up to 100, and three of these rows of numerals areemployed only for the purpose of aiding the eye in counting the game.The horizontal rows of numbers of the top portion of the plate arenumbered at the left and beginning with the second row, 100, 200, 300and 400; and at the right, and beginning with the first row 100, 200,300, 400 and 500; and in the bottom portion of the plate the saidhorizontal rows of perforations are numbered at the left, and beginningwith the second row, 100, 200, 300, 400 etc. to 900; while at the rightsaid rows are numbered, beginning with the first row, 100, 200, 300,etc., to 1000. this arrangement of said numerals at both the left andthe right being also for the purpose of aiding the eye in counting thegame. I also employ four pins or plugs e, 6 c and c which are adapted tobe inserted into the perforations d in the plate a, and which aredesignated by separate reference characters for the purpose of thefollowing description, but are not separately designated in practice.The alternate rows of vertically and horizontally arranged perforationsare also provided with or connected by lines f for purposes ofconvenience and to aid the eye in counting the game, and in practice thegame is played in the usual manner, the cards being shuttled and dealtto each player, after which, suppose the game to be auction pinochle,the players bid for the right of naming the trump, and the playerwinning the right to name the trump will, for the purpose of thisdescription, be called the leader. Suppose the leader to have bid 210,in this case the pin 6 is placed in the top portion of the plate asshown in Fig. 1 and in the perforation which represents 210, after whichthe leader molds and if the meld amounts to 250 the pin 0 is placed inthe hole (Z as shown in Fig. 1, and which represents 250. After thehands have all been played and alltricks are taken the leader now countsand finds that he has 200 points, whereupon he adds this 200 points tothe meld of his hand making a total of 4.50 points, and the plug 6 ismoved downward as indicated by its dotted position in Fig. l, to the 450mark, thus indicating that the leader has made .450 points, and 24.0points more than he bid, whereupon the pin 6 is placed in the lowerportion of the plate and in the perforation representing 450 pointswhich representthe number made by the dealer on his hand.

At the end of the playing of the first hand the pins in the top portionof the board are removed while the pin 6 in the bottom portion is leftin position. The cards are now again shuflled and dealt as before andeach player bids for the right to name the trump, and for the. purposeof this description We will assume that the player who won the right toname the trump on the first deal also wins the rightto name the trump onthe second deal and becomes leader. Suppose the bid on the second handto be 215; the leader now places the pin 6 in the perforation or hole (2in the top portion of the plate which indicates 215 points, and as shownin Fig. 2, after which he melds and finds that his meld shows 105points. He now places pin 6 in the hole 03 which represents 105 as shownin Fig.

2. The second hand is now played out in the usual. manner and at the endthereof the leader counts and finds that he has 145 points, whereupon headds the said 145 points to the meld of 105, making a total of 250, andthe plug 6 is moved into its dotted position as indicated in Fig. 2 torepresent 250 points, thus indicating that the leader has made thenumber and points more than his bid, and this total of 250 is added to450, the amount made on the first hand and the pin 6 is placed in thehole d in the lower portion of the plate which represents 700 points forthe two hands. If the said leader should not makejin the playing of thesecond hand, the amount of his bid which was 215 points, he forfeitsthis number of points and he deducts from the 450 points Which he had atthe end of the first hand, this amount, and the pin 6 is moved back toits dotted position in Fig. 2 to represent 235 points and the pin 6 isnot used as shown in Fig. 2. It will be understood that each player hasone of my improved counters, and it will also be understood that eachplayer when he wins the right to name the trump plays and counts in thesame manner as hereinbefore set out.

My invention is not limited to the exact details of construction hereinshown and described, and various changes therein and modificationsthereof may be made, within the scope of the appended claim, withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.It will also be understood, as hereinbefore stated that the deviceaasshown and described may serve as a card holder as well as a gamecounter, in which event the cards will be placed in the tray I) underthe plate a.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is;-

In a game counter, a plate or board divided into top and bottomportions, said top and bottom portions being provided with horizontallyand vertically-arranged rows of perforations, the horizontal rows ofperforations in the bottom portion being greater in number than those inthe top portion, and the vertically arranged rows of perforations beingnumbered horizontally from 5 to 100 in multiples of 5, and thehorizontal rows of perforations in the top portion of the plate or boardbeing numbered 100, 200, 300, etc., to 500, while the horizontal rows ofperforations in the bottom portion of the board are numbered 100, 200,300, etc., to 1000.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention. I have signedmy name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 14th day ofOctober 1910.

